Balls are thrown by hand in many sporting events, including baseball, softball, wiffle ball, American football, and cricket, among others. Both the grip of the thrower's hand and the way the ball is thrown can have a significant impact upon the ball's path, speed, and movement during its flight through the air. With baseball, for example, a pitcher can use these different hand grips and different ways to throw the ball to execute different kinds of pitches. By varying the grip and throwing motion, the rotation of the baseball and the movement of the seams of the baseball can be manipulated to pass through the air differently as the baseball spins, thereby providing different affects on ball trajectory, speed, and movement. Common pitches may include a two-seam fastball, a four-seam fastball, a slider, a fork ball (split finger), a sinker, a cutter, a curveball, a screwball, a changeup, and a knuckleball, among others. Other sports requiring the throwing of balls by hand may also include their own set of different pitches.
Learning a variety of pitches is the goal of many young athletes, but the task can be difficult because there is much to learn, including pitch-specific grips and pitch-specific throwing dynamics. The present invention aims to facilitate this learning process by developing balls that are specifically shaped and sized for teaching the grip associated with a particular pitch.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.